By Ike House
The North Panola Cougars had a full schedule of basketball last Thursday and Friday trying to compete for a district title.
Faced with the defending champions in the Holly Springs Hawks the Cougars have been swept by this season in their two matchups. The Cougars saw fit that they came out victorious this time as they scored 10 points in the first as the Hawks got 12 points on the board.
The Cougars scoring continued as they poured in 15 points but the Hawks jumped ahead of the Cougars going into the half with a 32-25 lead.
The Cougars kept things close in the third playing a their best quarter of the night. The Cougars scored 18 points and the defense shut the Hawks’ sharpshooters. The final quarter would be the definitive quarter with the Hawks falling behind 40-43.
In the final quarter both teams slowed down as the Cougars only scored seven points and the Hawks scored 12. With all of the scoring that went on in the game, the final rested in the balance  with only 1:49 left in the game. Free throws were the defining matter in the game. Holly Springs visited the line twice in the final minute and went two for four from the line. The Cougars appeared at the line twice and had the same results. With the Cougars down by two and only 6.2 seconds on the clock, they took a shot from the corner that rimmed out and the Cougars fell 52-50.
Leading the Cougars was Darrell Young and Jamarcus Jones both finishing with 12. Other scorers were Vennis Mills with 10, Kenneth Jefferson with eight, Demetrick Porter with six and Mario Fenner Jr. with two.
With the championship game out of reach but the seeding for the playoffs in the balance the Cougars would have to fend off the M.S. Palmer Dragons. The Cougars would have to beat another team that got the upper hand on them twice this season.
The Cougars were outplayed in a game where the Dragons shot a huge amount of three pointers. Both teams shot big from the floor in the first. The Cougars scored 17 points and the Dragons poured 23 points.
The Cougars got the line that in the second quarter  and shot a good percentage going 12-17. With all of the trips to the line the Cougars still scored 18 points. The Cougars went into the half trailing 45-35.
In the third quarter the game got out of hand with the Cougars scoring 15 points stretching the score to 50 behind the Dragons69-50.
The Cougars scored 23 points in final quarter against the Dragons’ 14. The push was not enough as the The Cougars fell 83-77.
Leading the Cougars was Jamarcus Jones with 23 points. Other scorers were Demetrick Porter with 22. Darrell Young had eight. Mario Fenner Jr. had seven. Sylvonta Oliver and Vennis Mills had five each. Demetrick Moore had four.
The Cougars will be traveling Kossuth tonight to play in the first round of the playoffs. The game will start at 7 p.m.